Energy

Athabasca officially starts Duverney partner search

CALGARY — Athabasca Oil Corp. has officially kicked off its much talked about attempt to find a joint venture partner for its extensive Alberta Duvernay resource play.

“The Duvernay production potential is very good and full development will require significant capital investment,” said Sveinung Svarte, president and CEO. “A joint venture partner would allow Athabasca to accelerate the development and value realization from the Duvernay.”

The company has 140,000 net hectares in the play, which is prospective for liquids-rich natural gas and oil.

The stock jumped to as much as $7.69 Wednesday before falling to close up three per cent at $7.21.

Analyst Mark Friesen of RBC Dominion Securities said the quarterly output of 7,258 barrels of oil equivalent was “weak” and questioned the timing of the joint venture.

“We view this JV to be early in the asset evaluation stage and therefore not optimal timing, but we view this as a positive step as it addresses current financial liquidity concerns,” he wrote in a note.

He added the market is awaiting word on the Dover thermal oilsands project from the Alberta Energy Regulator. Approval, expected within about 10 days, would trigger an option for PetroChina to buy Athabasca’s 40 per cent stake for $1.32 billion.

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